Conventional case packers for bottles or cans require that the containers be oriented in side-by-side columns for entry into the packer. However, the containers are generally provided in a nested configuration prior to being received by such a packer and therefor must be reoriented for entry into the packer. U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,980 issued to Wiesman in 1969 illustrates a solution to this problem wherein a center lane guide is provided at the apex of several generally parallel lane guides such that one lane of end-to-end containers is between formed spaced guides, and other lanes provided to either side of the one lane but with a somewhat wider spacing for the lane guides than that for the one lane. The approach shown in Wiesman, and other prior art approaches to solving this problem, requires that the fixed leading edge or nose of the lane guides be struck by the advancing articles so as to shift the articles laterally in order to break up the nested pattern as the articles move downstream on an underlying conveyor.
The general purpose of the present invention is to provide a container orienting system for moving the nested articles laterally away from one another so as to form discrete parallel lanes or columns without requiring that the leading edge of the lane divider itself be successively struck by each advancing container. With the higher speeds of present day case packers it is imperative that the process of orienting the containers be accomplished at higher speeds. Thus, the continual bumping contact of the on going containers against the leading edge of a lane guide or divider must be avoided, and that is the general object of the present invention.